Who am I?by

Ramana Maharshi

with comments and practice notes

Richard M Clarke

Infinite Pie Publications

Copyright 2002, 2015 Richard M. Clarke

Introduction

I write this commentary on Ramana Maharshi’s Who am I? be-cause it is such an important teaching and deserves to be lookedat deeply. This text comes from Ramana’s earliest spiritual in-structions, when, still in silence, he scratched answers to questionsinto the sand. These were written down, printed, and the resultingpamphlet was provided to visitors to read when they came to visithim. Who am I? came from these answers that Ramana wrote atGuhai Namasavaya Temple in 1899 to questions written by aseeker, Sivaprakasam Pillai.

There are several versions of Who am I?” that have been pub-lished. This “all text” version is the only one that was actually edited by Ramana himself. As such, I felt that it is the most authoritive version.

Why do I write this? I have reflected on this question. The firstreason was to more carefully read, reflect, and meditate on thisvaluable teaching, the first instance where Ramana’s teachingswere recorded. The second reason is that my teacher, Nome, hashelped me understand some of these teachings, so that I couldstart to use them in my practice. I want to offer to others what Ihave been taught, so that they might take a deeper approachthemselves to the inquiry that Who am I? readily invites.

I have found that this kind of spiritual teaching is best absorbed insmall chunks, and that is how I will present it, one paragraph at atime, along with my comments on that paragraph.

The ancient Upanishadic method of spiritual parctice is:

shravaNa (hearing of the truth, or reading it),

manana (reflecting on its meaning),

nididhyAsana (meditation leading to the full knowledge of the identity of the individual self and the Universal Self).

The intent is that you meditate deeply on each paragraph. Take itdeep within to where it becomes your experience. This booklet is

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not about what you understand, but rather what you experiencedirectly.

The comments express my present understanding drawn from myown inquiry, and give the reader one or more ways to approachthe teaching being presented. Also included in some of the com-ments are Ch’an Buddhist and Zen Buddhist quotes. These quotesshow parallels between the Advaita Vedanta of Ramana Ma-harshi, and these other “radical” self-knowledge teachings.

I look at this as a work-in-progress, rather than a fixed, completedbook. I am a seeker, not a sage. The first version was done in2000. A full edit was again done in 2015, resulting in this version.

The translation that I am using is the one from Osborne’s CollectedWorks of Ramana Maharshi.

I write this commentary as a seeker who has had the Grace of aliving teacher, Nome, at Society of Abidance in Truth (SAT), inSanta Cruz, CA. (More information about SAT can be found atwww.satramana.org .)

If there are any errors, they are due to ignorance or incompleteunderstanding on the part of this seeker. If there is any wisdom orunderstanding, it is due to the teaching of my teacher, Nome, andthe deep wisdom expressed by Ramana Maharshi.

Any comments or insights that you might have are alwayswelcome.

Richard Clarke

richard@infinitepie.net

t

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Paragraph 1

Every living being longs always to be happy, untainted by sorrow;and everyone has the greatest love for himself, which is solely dueto the fact that happiness is his real nature. Hence, in order to re-side in that inherent and untainted happiness, which indeed hedaily experiences when the mind is subdued in deep sleep, it is essential that he should know himself. For obtaining such knowl-edge the enquiry, “Who am I?” in quest of Self is the best means.

Comments

Where does happiness come from? If we believe that happinesscomes from things outside ourselves, or from our activities orthoughts, then this is where we look. When we realize where happiness really comes from, always from within, it intensifiesour desire for liberation, and our spiritual practice.

The wise say that the desires of the mind cloud and obscure ourinnate happiness. So when we get something desired, our mind isquiet for a time and we experience this happiness that we are.After a while, the mind becomes active again, and the happinessis again obscured as if by clouds.

Ramana also uses, again and again, discussions of the three states(awakening, dreaming and deep sleep) to talk about who we are.Who we are must always be true, including in all three states. Hecalls on the deep sleep state here, since during that state there is nomental activity, and this state is universally seen as one that isdeeply peaceful. We still exist, even in deep sleep. From wherecomes this sense of existence?

Practice Notes

Where does happiness come from? Look within yourself. Thereare “outer” events that might seem to bring happiness, but where

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is happiness experienced? From where does it rise within you?

What is your actual experience of this happiness? Is the deep experience any different from various kinds of happiness?

Where does the sense of peace come from during deep sleep? Ifthe mind is not active, then can it be from the mind? Where doesthis happiness come from? We all seek this happiness.

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“Who am I?” I am not this physical body, nor am I the five organsof sense perception, I am not the five organs of external activity, noram I the five vital forces, nor am I even the thinking Mind. Neitheram I that unconscious state of nescience which retains merely thesubtle vasanas (latencies of the mind) which being free from thefunctional activity of the sense organs and of the mind, and beingunaware of the existence of the objects of sense perception.

Comments

We are told that the Absolute Self is who we already are, notsomething that we somehow acquire or are transformed into. Self-Realization is a process of dismissing those things that obscure ourown nature. This is called “negation,” often described as bringinga light into a dark room, or “unrealizing the unreal.”

Ramana instructs the seeker to engage in negation to remove thefalse ideas. There is an example often used to illustrate this: A person walks into a dark room and sees a snake and is filled withfear. Upon lighting the room, the snake turns out to be just a ropethat was mistakenly thought to be a snake. The snake is a snakeas long as one holds to the idea of rope-as-snake. When the ideaof rope-as-snake is thoroughly eliminated, it is a rope, and foreverto be a rope. The negated snake was always a rope.

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As Ramana instructs in negation, he directs that the seeker proceedfrom gross to subtle. First is the body, including the senses, and the“organs of action” (hands, feet, mouth, organs of evacuation, or-gans of generation and sexual pleasures), then the “vital forces”(prana), then the mind and intellect, then the tendencies that lay dormant during deep sleep and rise again upon awakening.

Practice Notes

When light is brought into a dark room and the room is now litup, where did the darkness go?

In the metaphor of the snake and the rope, was the snake everreal? When it vanished, where did it go?

Identification with the body is, Ramana tells us, chief amongmisidentification. That is why he starts this paragraph, “ I am notthis physical body.” You need to know that this is true about your-self. Again and again you should inquire to see if you really are abody. Does the sense of “I” rise from the body? You know thebody; does the body know you? The body is always known; whoknows the body?

Who are you when the body, senses, breath, mind, and intellectare all negated?

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Therefore, summarily rejecting all the above-mentioned physicaladjuncts and their functions, saying “I am not this; no, nor am Ithis, nor this” — that which remains separate and alone by itself,that pure Awareness is what I am. This Awareness is by its verynature Sat-Chit-Ananda (Existence-Consciousness-Bliss).

Comments

Ramana instructs to reject all the “physical adjuncts and their

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functions.” Then what remains is only pure Awareness, which isyour Self. He continues teaching negation as key to inquiry; dis-miss the unreal, the real will stand, by Itself, with no further effort.

If you are not a body, then who are you?

I would also note that Awareness, your very Being, is described as“Existence-Consciousness-Bliss.” They are hyphenated becausethey are one, the same, and inseparable, not three things. The ex-perience that Existence and Consciousness are the same is one ofmany seekers and sages. Sages also say that “Bliss” is one of theinseparable descriptions of Awareness. This seemingly uncausedbliss is the universal experience of those who reach their innerdepths. Bliss is who you are.

The negation brings about knowledge of who you are not. Thisknowledge opens the door to knowledge of who you are. Yourtrue Self stands on its own and is who you are. This knowledge iswhat makes up Self-Realization.

Practice Notes

What is negation like in actual practice? I have practiced to see ininquiry what is “objective.” ANYTHING that is experienced bythe body or senses is objective. It is known. Who is the knower?The life-energy (prana) that courses through the body is objective.Who knows this prana? Every thought is objective. It is known.For whom is the thought? Each of these questions drives theseeker inward.

One gets to a point in the inquiry where it is no longer possible tosee the experience as objective in any way. If, from this place, theinquiry “Who am I?” is made, then the only answer possible be-comes “This!” I know of no way to describe this further. Onething that I can say is that you will know, without uncertainty,when this is your experience.

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I start my inquiry with noticing, “I exist.” This lets the inquiryflow from my experience either into the “I” or the “exist.” Eithercan take one to the deepest inquiry. Or I can just stay with the ex-perience, “I exist.”

Where does the sense of existence come from? Where does thesense of reality come from? Where does the consciousness (orknowing) come from? Where does the sense of “I” come from?Where does bliss come from? Where am I? These are all goodquestions for the inquirer. Each of these can be used in the nega-tion, like this, “Does my sense of existence come from the body?”or “Does bliss (or happiness) come from my senses?” (Then“From where do they arise?” followed by “Who am I?”)

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If the mind, which is the instrument of knowledge and is the basisof all activity, subsides, the perception of the world as an objectivereality ceases. Unless the illusory perception of the serpent in therope ceases, the rope on which the illusion is formed is not perceivedas such. Similarly, unless the illusory nature of the perception ofthe world as an objective reality ceases, the Vision of the true na-ture of the Self, on which the illusion is formed, is not obtained.

Comments

This is the first of several paragraphs about the mind. The reasonthere is so much focus on the mind is this: The Self is (and isWho We Are). What stands in the way of our direct experienceof being the Self is our ignorance, also known as maya, or illu-sion. (We see the snake not the rope). This ignorance consistsonly of thoughts, and more complex ideas, thoughts built ofother thoughts. We may see the mind as a complex and powerfulforce. But the mind, if you look closely, turns out to be only

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thoughts. When the thoughts stop (or you do not give them real-ity) then the ignorance stops, too (at least for that moment).

This is so important. As long as the mind is active, there is a sepa-rate world, and ego-”I” identity within it. And this mind view isthen projected onto the seeming world and held to be reality. As theCh’an poet, Stone House wrote, “The mind creates the world.”

The initial focus of all knowledge-based spirituality is quieting themind. Ramana said that best for this is “Who am I?” With thisapproach, the path and the goal are one and the same.

When you inquire into the Self, it is not to “gain” the Self; rather itis to eliminate the ignorance. Unless the ignorance is eliminated,you will not have the direct Knowledge of the Self that you are.

Practice Notes

When you have an erroneous idea, then obtain the knowledgethat shows the error, where does the erroneous idea go? Was itever real??

Has anyone ever seen the world without a mind? When yourmind is quiet, do you still exist? Who knows the mind? Does thesense of I arise from this mind?

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The mind is a unique power (sakti) in the Atman, whereby thoughtsoccur to one. On scrutiny as to what remains after eliminating allthoughts, it will be found that there is no such thing as mind apartfrom thought. So then, thoughts themselves constitute the mind.

Comments

This seems clear: The mind is just a bundle of thoughts. What isthe mind but thoughts? How can you verify this for yourself? One

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important element in spiritual practice is that seekers must findthe Truth for themselves.

One way that this is done is by the traditional approach:

Listen (or read),Reflect,Meditate deeply (and make the experience and

Knowledge your own).

We need to find out for ourselves what is true.

Practice Notes

Can you think about thoughts? How many thoughts have youhad in your life? Yogis say that each breath brings a new thought.Is any thought who you are?

Can you see the space between two thoughts? Who are you atthat moment?

For whom are the thoughts? Who knows each thought? Do youknow the thought, or does the thought know you?

Paragraph 6

Nor is there any such thing as the physical world apart from and independent of thought. In deep sleep there are no thoughts: nor isthere a world. Just as the spider draws out the thread of the cobwebfrom within itself and withdraws it again into itself, in the same waythe mind projects the world out of itself and absorbs it into itself.

Comments

Ramana might say, “Has anyone seen the world without amind?” For some seekers this is where the teachings get difficult. Ihave seen seekers who are very advanced struggle with this point.The problem lies with identification with the body; as long as you

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think you are a body, then there must be a world for the body toact and experience within. Discover that you are not a body, andthen it is easier to know that you are not a thought.

As you relax the hold of your mental concepts, you deepen spiri-tually. Through the filter of the mind we see existence as separate:world, ego-self, and others. When the mind is not active, there isno separation.

The existence of a separate world also includes the existence ofthe body, the mind and the ego. Holding to the world and tryingto become free of the ego, then, has a basic problem since theyappear together and seem to coexist.

What one sees as real is where one places his identity. Somecould say that the whole point of inquiry is to see that Reality is“within.” Finally the seeker may be able to use this spiritualknowledge to see that his own identity is Awareness, not with the“ten thousand things” (to use a Buddhist expression).

I have been taught that what one experiences is a matter of whereone “takes his stand.” If the stand is as body, there is the world, life,death, etc. If one’s stand is as the mind, then ideas, moods andemotions seem to control and limit one’s experience. If ones standis as Being-Consciousness-Bliss, then no more needs to be done.This is where Ramana took his stand and shed his light onto allwho visited him (and even those who just read about him).

Practice Notes

It can be useful in your inquiry to look at where your own senseof Reality comes from. Does it come from the objects of yoursense perceptions? Or is it something more interior, somethingthat comes from deep within yourself? If you think reality comesfrom the objects of your senses, what about the sense of reality ina dream? Where does this come from?

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In my practice I see that the knower is never within the known.The Upanishads call this, “the unknown knower of all that isknown.” The spiritual conviction of “within” is there. This deep-ens my practice. In inquiry (both in seated meditation and in dailyactivities) I see that I continue to place my identity in thisbody/mind/ego. There are moments where the inquiry goesdeeper. Maybe there are a few moments of bliss. And then thestand as body/mind/ego returns. So, back to the inquiry.

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The world is perceived as objective reality when the mind is exter-nalized, thereby forsaking its identity with the Self. When theworld is thus perceived, the true nature of the Self is not revealed:conversely, when the Self is realized, the world ceases to appear asan objective reality.

Comments

I don’t think Ramana could be any more clear: we see our realityas either “outside” or “within.” When the mind goes out, it givesup its identity as Self, and projects its own reality onto what isthen seen as real (the ego and the world). Within, there is onlythe Self; no ego, not even a mind.

Advaita Vedanta, (the Teaching of Nonduality), the tradition thatbest describes Ramana’s realization and teaching, says that whatis real is that which is always, and what is unreal is that whichcomes and goes.

As long as the world (and ego) is thought to be reality, then the re-ality of the Self will be obscured. As long as your stand — whereyou place your identity — is as world/body/senses/prana/mind/ego, then your identity will not be as Self. Likewise, Self-re-alized sages do not see the world as objective, as anything outside

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of themselves, or as anything other than themselves. The sagesees only the Self.

Practice Notes

For whom is the world? Has anyone seen the world without amind? Does your sense of “I” arise from the world? When thisknowledge is your experience, reality is revealed within you, asyour Self. It is not discovered anew, or created. Reality has alwaysbeen with you, as your deepest Being, your Self.

Paragraph 8

By a steady and continuous investigation into the nature of themind, the mind is transformed into That to which the “I” refers;and that is in fact the Self. Mind has to necessarily depend for itsexistence on something gross, it never subsists by itself. It is themind that is otherwise called the subtle body, ego, jiva or soul.

Comments

The first sentence reminds me of a yoga teaching on the mind, thatthe mind becomes that which it focuses upon. Focus the mind onThat (Being, Existence, the Self) and the mind will become That.

Ramana calls for more than just some mental focus; he calls for a“steady and continuous investigation.”

The trouble is that the mind grasps only the objective. This is allthat it can know, and That (the Self) never is objective. Focus themind on the non-objective and it loses its “basis” of the objective.To focus the mind on the non-objective, Ramana taught Self-in-quiry. Self-inquiry uses the mind to move past the mind. AncientTaoists called this, “Turning around the light (of consciousness).”

Here, the seeker is also told how to practice: “By a steady and con-tinuous investigation.” He does not say to wait for Self-realization

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to come; he does not say that it is in the hands of the gods, or fate.The seeker is directed to practice “By a steady and continuous in-vestigation.” For practice to be steady, it has to be deeper than themind. The mind cannot hold anything steady for long. This ispractice far deeper than a few minutes each day, at a usual timeand place. This extends through what can be called “daily life.”

Ramana also here equates the mind with the ego or jiva (individ-ual self). He says that mind is just another name for ego. What isthe mind? A bundle of thoughts. What is the ego? A thought, anda specific one — the first thought, the sense of individuality. Elim-inate all thoughts and the ego never rises. How do you eliminateall thoughts? Ramana advised Self-inquiry, to look into the sourceof the “I”-thought. Ramana taught that all other thoughts dependon this “I”-thought, eliminate this thought and all other thoughtsare also eliminated. How do you eliminate the ego? Discover thatit never existed to begin with, that it is just illusion.

Practice Notes

What is your practice like? Do you meditate daily? Or do you letyour ego run your practice? With daily practice one often finds thatthe inquiry starts happening in other times and places, and that akind of Self-inquiry “current” gets going. This is a very good step.

Does your inquiry extend to other parts of “daily life?” Do youinquire of dreams? In the midst of activity? When walking, doyou try to know what is always still?

Paragraph 9

That which arises in the physical body as “I” is the mind. If oneenquires whence the “I”-thought in the body arises in the first in-stance, it will be found that it is from hydayam or the Heart. Thatis the source and stay of the mind. Or again, even if one merely

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continuously repeats to oneself inwardly, “I-I” with the entiremind fixed thereon, that also leads one to the same source.

Comments

Ramana here continues with equating the mind and the ego-I.First he says that what rises in the body as “I” is the mind. Thistells us that this “I” is only a thought, a concept and construct ofthe mind. We are then told to inquire, to look in the Heart for therising of the “I”-thought. It is important to note that Ramana isnot saying to look in the physical heart, nor is he saying to look atthe physical location usually equated with the heart-center (this isvariously described as “two-fingers to the right of the center of thechest,” or “the place in between breaths where breath arises.”) InHinduism, the Sanskrit word for heart refers to the center ofBeing, from which all existence flows. The Heart to which Ramana refers, he also calls “Reality,” by which he means theAbsolute or Self. If one identifies Reality with a body-location asthe heart, then one still maintains his identity with the body. Butthe body rises and falls, as in the waking state and in deep sleep,so the body cannot be the changeless.

Ramana here says that even Japa (repetition) of “I-I” will leadone to the same source, if done with real depth. The basic ap-proach continues to be to keep the focus on the “first,” (first per-son, or “I”, or “I”-thought), and to not let the mind wander to the“second” or “third” (person, you, she, them, it, the world, etc.).

Practice Notes

Is there any specific part of the body that is “you?” Where, inyour dream, does your body come from? Within “you,” fromwhere comes your sense of existence? The sense of reality?

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The first and foremost thought that arises in the mind is the “I”-thought. It is only after the rise or origin of the “I”-thought thatinnumerable other thoughts arise. In other words, only after thefirst personal pronoun, “I”, has arisen, do the second and thirdpersonal pronouns (“you, he,” etc.) occur to the mind; and theycannot subsist without the former.

Comments

All thoughts are built upon just one thought. This one thought isthe “I”-thought, “I am an individual.” First rises the “I”-thought.Then rises the thoughts of others and of the world. Thoughtsthen have as their source the first thought, the “I”-thought. So re-ally, to put an end to thoughts, you do not need to eliminate everythought you might ever have. You only need to eliminate onethought, the first thought, the “I”-thought. Eliminate by discover-ing that it never existed to start with.

This makes it easier for the seeker. One does not need to stop allthoughts. This is a key point in Ramana’s teaching. Just inquireinto the source for this “I”-thought. That is all that is needed.

Practice Notes

An exercise that we were given at a retreat was to “catch athought” (any thought), and “take that thought apart” to see howit is based on the “I”-thought. This might be worthwhile for youto try. Ways to tell the “I”-thought? Well, if the view is one that inany way is of an individual, particular person, in this (or that)time and place, then it is based on the “I”-thought.

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Since every other thought can occur only after the rise of the “I”-

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thought and since the mind is just a bundle of thoughts, it is onlythrough the inquiry “Who am I?” that the mind subsides. More-over, the integral “I”-thought, implicit in such inquiry, having destroyed all other thoughts, gets finally destroyed or consumed,just as the stick used for stirring the burning funeral pyre gets con-sumed.

Comments

Here Ramana is again direct: Inquire into the “I”-thought and themind will become quiet. Finally this inquiry even consumes itself,and there is nothing else but Self. Inquire as long as you can in-quire. When there is no separate “you” left to inquire then the inquiry will naturally cease.

Ch’an and Zen have a form of inquiry called a “hua t’ou.” Similarto the Zen koan (kung-an in Korean Zen), but a “pointing,” pointingto the truth of Being. The literal meaning of hua-t’ou in ChineseCh’an is “word head” or “sentence head.” It is the state of mind be-fore the mind is disturbed by thought. A famous hua t’ou is, “Whatwas your face (in other words, your mind) before you were born?”

The following is drawn from a conversation at lunch in HongKong between Korean Zen Master Seung Sahn, another famousmonk, and some students.

Monk: What is the difference between hua t’ou andkong-an?

Seung Sahn: The hua t’ou is like a pointing finger. The fin-ger itself is not important. Direction is most important. Thehua t’ou has no meaning. It’s just a finger pointing. Mostimportant is direction. Hua t’ou means your direction. Aquestion like “Who is speaking?” has two points, subjectand object. If you have two things then opposites have al-ready appeared. Don’t make opposites. “Who is speak-

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ing?” ...then thinking, thinking, thinking appears. Hua t’oumeans cut off all thinking. “What is Buddha? Dry shit on astick.” This has no thinking; it’s a direct pointing! Kong-analso means cut off all thinking. Just do it.

Where is Amitabul (Buddha) now?If you keep this question, all thinking disappears.You return to the place of no thinkingThen your mind light is shining bright.

Practice Notes

Have you ever had a moment where you mind is quiet? Who areyou when mind is quiet?

Self-inquiry is a “pointing.” To where or what does the inquirypoint?

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Even when extraneous thoughts sprout up during such inquiry,do not seek to complete the rising thought, but instead, deeply in-quire within, “To whom has this thought occurred?” No matterhow many thoughts thus occur to you, if you would with acutevigilance inquire immediately as and when each individualthought arises to whom it has occurred, you would find it is “tome.” If then you inquire “Who am I?” the mind gets introvertedand the rising thought also subsides. In this manner as you perse-vere more and more in the practice of Self-inquiry, the mind ac-quires increasing strength and power to abide in its Source.

Comments

Now the instruction turns to practical inquiry advice: What to doabout the busy mind full of thoughts? Or the quiet mind, when anew thought rises? Don’t even bother to finish the thought, just

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turn it into inquiry. Notice that Ramana talks about a process thathas several steps. First is the inquiry, “For whom is this?” The ini-tial answer is clearly for the mind/ego, “For me.” Notice that thisinquiry is for the mind, and its purpose is to use the mind’s powerand turn it within. Already the thought has stopped. After themind responds, “To me” the inquiry continues to the “source” ofthe mind, your own Consciousness = Being.

The mind does not provide its own “light.” It is “illuminated” bythe light of Consciousness. Consciousness is self-effulgent, that is,it lights up itself, with no outside source. Is there somethingwithin you that is “lit up” by its own light?

Practice Notes

We have habits. “Habits of mind” (called tendencies, or vasanas,in Advaita) are what bind us. So this process makes use of thetendencies to make a new habit of turning the mind within. Ourold habit is to look to the world for our reality. We can make anew habit to see that all is within us as our Existence, our Con-sciousness. This uses tendencies to aid our practice. When “thestick that stirs the fire” burns up, all these tendencies go, too.

Each tendency is based on a misidentification coupled with anidea of the source of happiness. The desire for happiness is basicto us all. The tendency is based on the false idea that happinesscomes from outside, from the world. The source of happiness, is,as you discover through inquiry, within. When you know thisyou see even your most problematic tendency is really the urge todiscover your deepest self.

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It is only when the subtle mind is externalized through the activity ofthe intellect and the sense-organs that the gross name and form con-

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stituting the world appear. When, on the other hand, the mindstays firmly in the Heart, they recede and disappear. Restraint ofthe out-going mind and its absorption in the Heart is known as in-troversion (antarmukda-drishti). The release of mind and its emer-gence in the Heart is known as objectiveness (bahirmukda-drihshi).

Comments

My teacher says that your experience depends on where you“stand,” where you “put your identity.” Standing as the body, asthe ego-I, the mind “goes out” and there is the world (whenstanding as a separate identity, then there is the separate world).Standing as the Self, the mind stays in the Heart, and the separateworld with its names and forms is no longer the experience.Standing as the One, there is no other.

Thus Ramana’s teaching is to look to the “first” (person), ratherthan the “second” and “third.” The “second” and “third,” in-deed, all others, depend on the first person for their existence; theyare defined by their seeming relationship with the “first.”

Practice Notes

Notice your own stand. Where do you “put” your identity? Is it as abody? A mind? A job? A family member? As a person in a relation-ship with another person? Who are you if you are none of these?

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If in this manner the mind becomes absorbed in the Heart, theego or “I”. Which is the center of the multitude of thoughts andpure Consciousness or Self, which subsists during all the states ofthe mind, alone remains resplendent. It is this state where there isnot the slightest trace of the “I”-thought, that is the true Being ofoneself. And that is called Quiescence or Mouna (Silence).

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Comments

This comment comes mainly from what I have been taught,rather than my direct experience. My inquiry has brought me towhere the mind becomes quiet. I have experiences of greaterdepth, but these still come and go.

“Samadhi” means absorption. There are three different kinds ofsamadhi that Ramana talks about.

One is experienced as being like the deeply quiet mind duringdeep sleep, kevala nirvikalpa samadhi. In Talks, #187, 13 March1936, Ramana describes kevala this way: “… the mind lies im-mersed in the Light of the Self. (whereas the same lies in darknessin deep sleep).”

Another is nirvikalpa samadhi, in which “… the mind has resolved itself into the Self and been lost.”

These first two are said to be states, affecting the mind. Theycome and go.

Finally there is sahaja samadhi, described by Ramana as “the natu-ral state.” In sahaja samadhi you are so established in the “spiritualconsciousness” or the Self, that even while moving and acting,you remain in this inner awareness.

Sahaja samadhi is where Ramana “stood.” It is where my teacher“stands.” It is “beyond states.”

Ramana instructs the seeker to look deeply within to what is true“during all states of the mind.” These three states are waking,dreaming and deep sleep. What is it that is always present?

Practice Notes

In my deepest inquiry I have known Silence. In this Silence, all thatmight become a distraction is just like foam on a bubble; insubstan-

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tial and not at all binding. Sometimes when I meditate, I look at theSilence. You can “hear” it “behind” all the “noise.” The “noise” ex-ists in Silence and depends on Silence for its very existence. Noticethe Silence within yourself. “Under” all your sense experiences andthoughts there is this silence in which all these arise. Can you findthis place within yourself? Is this quiet ever disturbed?

I have also experienced the “Bliss of Being.” As I begin inquiry, Ilook to see if I exist. In existence there is Bliss. Sometimes I canfeel this bliss. After this kind of meditation, maybe my eyes arefilled with tears.

What is your deepest state? What within you is always?

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This state of mere inherence in pure Being is known as the Visionof Wisdom. Such inherence means and implies the entire subsi-dence of the mind in the Self. Nothing other than this, and nopsychic powers of the mind such as thought-reading, telepathy,and clairvoyance, can be Wisdom.

Comments

Ramana instructs the seeker to know the deepest Wisdom. Donot stop until the experience, until the Knowledge, is pure Being,is only Consciousness. The generous Sage tells the seeker that heshould not be satisfied, should not stop (at the ego-gratifying state)at “mere” powers. Powers are not Wisdom. The direct Knowl-edge of Consciousness, the direct stand, as none other thanBeing, is the only appropriate goal for the seeker of Self-realiza-tion. Keep going “deeper” until the seeker and That which issought are known as one and the same, until you are what youknow. Here is nonduality. Here is Siva. Here is where Ramanastood and shone on all with the Light of Being.

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Practice Notes

Where is your present “stand?” Is it as an “individual?” Is there anyindividuality in pure Being? Does your sense of “I” rise from thisseeming individual? Or is this individual something that you know?

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Atman alone exists and is real. The threefold reality of world, indi-vidual soul, and God is, like the illusory appearance of silver in themother of pearl, an imaginary creation in the Atman. They appearand disappear simultaneously. The Self alone is the world, the “I”and God. All that exists is but the manifestation of the Supreme.

Comments

Ramana restates the basic nondual idea, expressed from the timeof the Upanishads, Tat tvam Asi, “Thou art That.” Another waythis is sometimes stated is “you are that which you seek.”

All that appears as separate to the conceptual mind, all thatcomes and goes, is none other than Atman, none other than Self.There is no separate reality, there is no separate ego or individual,these are just imaginations of mind. There is no creation, no pass-ing from creation. There is no reality that is outside of, or separatefrom Being-Consciousness-Bliss. The central element of Self-in-quiry is to discover this reality as one’s own identity, to have thisas one’s own Knowledge (capitalized to stand apart from meremental knowledge). This Knowledge is at the same level and cer-tainty as you know that you exist. There is no difference here be-tween what you know and who you are.

I think that this teaching is the most radical of the Advaita Vedantateachings. When people visit SAT for satsang, you can see them lis-ten to the teaching, and be taken by the wonder and beauty of “Thou

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art That” teaching (however it is presented), and then be taken abackby the teaching, “Atman alone exists and is real.” This doubt is finallyresolved by spiritual experience, by the Knowledge of your Selffound through the inquiry, not through thinking about the Self.

As one reads what Ramana taught, though, it seems very clear.He teaches that as long as one holds the world and such to bereal, one will not stand as the Self. It is also clear that if a seekerspends time and effort trying to understand this teaching at a con-ceptual level, rather than diving into their own inquiry to see howthis is true within themselves, that little progress will occur.

Practice Notes

We are instructed to inquire, and find out for ourselves what isreal and what is just passing illusion, like images projected onto amovie screen. In this metaphor, we are the screen. Does themovie screen get excited at the image of fire? Yet people live theirlives identified with the illusory appearance, and never notice theReality. Where does the sense of Reality come from?

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For the subsidence of mind there is no other means more effectiveand adequate than Self-enquiry. Even though by other means themind subsides, that is only apparently so; it will rise again.

Comments

Now Ramana starts instruction on the practice of Self-inquiry.This will continue for several paragraphs.

The first issue addressed is “the subsidence of mind.” It is onlywhen the mind is quiet that most seekers can start to see that thereis something beyond the mind, that even their most subtlethoughts are objective. This points them directly to Self.

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It is a common goal of a variety of spiritual practices to still themind. For example, Buddha, according to a sutra, once said,“Stop, stop. Do not talk. The highest truth is not even to think.” Itis clear in Self-inquiry practice that the still mind is just a startingpoint. When the mind is still, who knows the still mind? Therecontinues to be Consciousness-Being. When thoughts are still, youcontinue to exist. When one can look deeply, one sees that the ideaof ego, of individuality, of being a separate person, is just anotherthought, another idea. The experience within is of only one.

So how is best to get subsidence of mind? Here Ramana is specific. He says, “There is no other means more effective and adequate than Self-inquiry.” In Self-inquiry, the seeker uses themind, and the capabilities of the mind, to look “past” the mind(into Being-Consciousness-Bliss that is the source of the mind). Inthis inquiry you see that your identity, your being, the spiritualheart, “who you are,” is not any thing that is objective. (And evensubtle experience like thought is objective.) The seeker continuesto direct the mind within, to Being. The inquiry opens the mindwith a question. Your own Being is the answer.

Other forms of meditation stop the mind when practiced, but themind’s habits resume as meditation is interrupted (as in dreamand deep sleep). Self-inquiry can “burn up” the mind altogether.

When you find that the mind does not exist, it no longer has anyhold.

Practice Notes

You have had countless thoughts. Who knows these thoughts?Which thought are you? Can you be any thought? Are you any ofthem? Are you all of them? If you are not any thought, then justwho are you anyway?

You may notice “breaks” when ego is not active. If there is even

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one moment when you exist and ego does not, can you be ego?

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For instance, the mind subsides by the practice of pranayama (re-straint and control of breath and vital forces); yet such subsidencelasts only as long as the control of breath and vital forces contin-ues; and when they are released, the mind also gets released andimmediately, becoming externalized, it continues to wanderthrough the force of its subtle tendencies.

Comments

This form of meditation, pranayama, is concentration-based. Herethe mind is focused on some point of meditation (the breath), andthe mind becomes “filled” with what it is focused upon, and theother thoughts stop — as long as the focus remains. When thefocus is interrupted, the mind again flows in habitual ways.

The issue with any form of concentrative meditation is that theconcentration is mental, and is naturally on some physical ormental form. It is difficult to move to the formless through a form.Self-inquiry is a formless meditation. That is its power. It is hardto get to a thought-free state using the mind. The whole purposeof inquiry is to move deeper than this mind.

Early in my practice of Self-inquiry, though, I would use a form ofpranayama as a means to quiet the mind (and to improve my con-centration). Then, once the mind was quiet(er), I would start theinquiry. I asked about this in satsang and was told that this is OK;that it is important for the seeker to develop the ability to concen-trate, and that pranayama is a fine was to develop it — but that it isnot a substitute for Self-inquiry. Inquiry needs a quiet mind to getstarted. For me this has been a good way to begin. Once I feel thepeace of the quiet mind, then I can start the inquiry.

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Practice Notes

Just close your eyes and watch breath flow in and out for a while.Does it feel relaxing and peaceful? Do your mind, your thoughts,slow and then get quiet? When you stop watching your breathdoes your mind then return to its previous state (if not right away,then after a while)? Who knows this flow of breath?

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The source of the mind is the same as that of breath and vitalforces. It is really the multitude of thoughts that constitutes themind; and the “I”-thought is the primal thought of the mind,and is itself the ego. But breath too has its origin at the same placewhence the ego rises. Therefore, when the mind subsides, breathand vital forces also subside; and conversely, when the latter sub-side, the former also subsides.

Comments

The source of the mind is Consciousness, which is also the sourceof breath and the “I”-thought. Ramana says when mind quiets,so does breath, and when breath slows, so does the mind. This ex-perience is the same for everybody. This mind-breath connectionis probably why breath control is recommended by some teach-ings — slow the mind by slowing the breath. I also have heard ofa yogic idea of the connection between breath and the mind, say-ing, “With each breath comes a new thought.” So certainly thereseems to be a deep connection.

Ramana continues to say that the mind is just thoughts, and thatthe “I”-thought is the root of all other thoughts.

Practice Notes

Just notice within yourself what Ramana tells us: thought and

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breath are deeply connected. Watch your breath. As you watch, itslows. As breath slows, your mind gets quieter. As mind gets qui-eter, you feel more peaceful. As you feel more peaceful, deep in-quiry gets easier.

Also see if it works the other way. Plunge into inquiry, feel thepeace of Existence within yourself. Notice that with this thebreath also slows and gets more peaceful.

This peaceful, satvic state is important. It is what is needed fordeep inquiry. Knowing how to bring it about is an important aidfor the seeker.

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Breath and vital forces are also described as the gross manifestation ofthe mind. Till the hour of death the mind sustains and supportsthese forces in the physical body; and when life becomes extinct themind envelops them and carries them away. During sleep, however,the vital forces continue to function, although the mind is not mani-fest. This is according to the divine law and is intended to protect thebody and to remove any possible doubt as to whether it is dead oralive while one is asleep. Without such arrangement by nature,sleeping bodies would often be cremated alive. The vitality apparentin breathing is left behind by the mind as a “watchman”. But in thewakeful state and in samadhi, when the mind subsides, breath alsosubsides. For this reason (because the mind has the sustaining andcontrolling power over breath and vital forces and is therefore ulteriorto both of them), the practice of breath control is merely helpful insubduing the mind, but cannot bring about its final extinction.

Comments

Again Ramana talks about the close relationship between breathand the mind. A key point here too is that breath control can be

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helpful in quieting the mind, but will not put an end to the mind.Ramana teaches that only Self-inquiry can do that.

Practice Notes

Look at your breath and see, “Is breath objective to me?” Ifbreath is something that you know, then who you are must becloser to the knowing that what is known. Who knows thisbreath? Who am I?

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Like breath control, meditation on form, incantations, invocations,and regulation of diet are only aids to control of the mind. Throughthe practice of meditation or invocation the mind becomes one-pointed. Just as the elephant’s trunk, which is otherwise restless, willbecome steady if it is made to hold an iron chain, so that the elephantgoes its way without reaching out for any other object, so the ever-rest-less mind, which is trained and accustomed to a name or formthrough meditation or invocation, will steadily hold on to that alone.

Comments

As long as the meditation is on an object, will the meditator bebrought to the non-objective? This meditation is mental, using con-centration on the object to stop other thoughts. Concentration isonly effective so long as the concentration remains. Can any formof concentration be continuous? Can the meditator continue toconcentrate in his dreams? In deep sleep? These various practicescan “strengthen” the mind; improving one’s ability to direct themind. Concentration is not a substitute for inquiry, though.

As you learn that you can direct the mind, something else startsto happen; you learn that you can make choices that turn themind more “within.” Now you are making use of the way that

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the mind works to enhance your own spiritual practice.

Practice Notes

One thing that seekers learn is that they can affect what fills theirawareness. This is an important lesson. Using this lesson, you canstart to create new habits of looking inside, of Self-inquiry, to re-place the old habits of looking to the world for happiness. Wheredo you find happiness? Is it within?

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When the mind is split up and dissipated into countless varyingthoughts, each individual thought becomes extremely weak and in-efficient. When, on the contrary, such thoughts subside more andmore till they finally get destroyed, the mind becomes one-pointedand, thereby acquiring strength and power of endurance, easilyreaches perfection in the method of enquiry in quest of the Self.

Comments

I understand this as Ramana saying that the seeker can learn togain increased concentration and focus, and use this focus to quietthe mind. Ramana shows that this is a process, and that progressoccurs. Ramana also says that gaining this power of a concen-trated mind is important to inquiry.

Practice Notes

What is your spiritual practice like? It is in practice that most seek-ers start learning about their own minds and their own habits. It isin practice that the seeker starts gaining the strength of mindneeded (for more practice).

Paragraph 23

Regulation of diet, restricting it to satvic food taken in moderate

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quantity, is of all the rules of conduct the best; and it is most con-ducive to the development of the satvic qualities of the mind.These, in their turn, assist one in the practice of Atma vichara orenquiry in quest of the Self.

Comments

Ramana talked about three guna-s. “Guna” means quality, attrib-ute, characteristic. You always are in one guna or another. Thethree guna-s are:

Sattva: buoyant, illuminating, light, knowledge, happiness.

Rajas: agitation, stimulating, mobile, pain, action.Tamas: heavy, enveloping, dark, dull, indifferent, laziness,

inertia. This is an important point for a seeker. Make choices that con-tribute to your spiritual well-being. You can look at your life andsee what makes your practice prosper and what does not. Thenyou can make new choices that support the practice. Makechoices that are satvic.

A satvic mind is what is needed for inquiry.

One thing that my teacher, Nome, recommends is that periodicallyyou should review your practice and see what is working and whatis not. Then continue to choose what is working for you spiritually.

Practice Notes

Since I have started regular practice I have learned to make differ-ent choices. I see in my own practice (and life) that generally I ammore satvic. I have fewer times of agitation (rajas), or dullness(tamas). This provides a strong support to practice.

What is working in your spiritual practice? What helps it? Whatseems to hinder it? What choices can you make to deepen your

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practice? What choices can bring you to a more satvic state? Isyour own liberation important? If so, then you can make choicesto support your liberation.

Paragraph 24

Countless vishaya-vasanas (subtle tendencies of the mind in rela-tion to objects of sense gratification), coming one after the other inquick succession like the waves of the ocean, agitate the mind.Nevertheless, they too subside and finally get destroyed with progressive practice of Atma dhyana or meditation on the Self.Without giving room even to the thought which occurs in theform of doubt, whether it is possible to stay merely as the verySelf, whether all the vasanas can be destroyed, one should firmlyand unceasingly carry on meditation on the Self.

Comments

The mind is “stirred up” by tendencies, ideas that we have builtup over time. With progressive Self-inquiry, these become quiet.

Nome teaches that the root of these tendencies is in misidentifica-tion, placing our identity somewhere where it is not. With this isalso the mistake of thinking that happiness comes from some ex-ternal source. Inquire into this to free yourself from this tendency.

Ramana gives a key recommendation on practice when he says,“one should firmly and unceasingly carry on meditation on theSelf.” The advice is to continue the inquiry through the day, notjust in the time of meditation. He says do not let doubt get in yourway. Doubts are just more thoughts.

As inquiry deepens, you start to change the habit of mind thatlooks “outside” for happiness, and you build a new “habit” of inquiry, of focus “within,” on the Self.

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Practice Notes

One way to start to move your inquiry outside of your seatedmeditation time is to use moments in everyday life differently.

When standing in line at the supermarket, notice your sense ofbeing and ask, “Where does this sense of being come from?”When driving in traffic listen to the sound of the tires on the roadand ask, “For whom is this sound?”

Look at a tendency. Investigate it, see what is the misidentifica-tion. See the idea of happiness that comes with the tendency. In-quire: Is this who I am? What is the source of happiness?

Paragraph 25

However sinful a person may be, if he would stop wailing incon-solably: “Alas! I am a sinner, how shall I attain Liberation?”and, casting away even the thought that he is a sinner, if hewould zealously carry on meditation on the Self, he would mostassuredly get reformed.

Comments

Whatever was the “identity” of the seeker, all that is needed is toturn the focus within, to the Self. This spiritual path does not requirepurification, nor is it limited by the karma of the seeker. Again, Ramana says, most clearly, that all that is needed is Self-inquiry.

Practice Notes

What is required for liberation? The desire for liberation thatturns the seeker to practice.

How strong is your desire for liberation?

What is required is to stop thought. Do this through repeated andcontinuous inquiry.

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Paragraph 26

So long as subtle tendencies continue to inhere in the mind, it isnecessary to carry on the enquiry: “Who am I?” As and whenthoughts occur, they should one and all be annihilated then andthere, at the very place of their origin, by the method of enquiryin quest of the Self.

Comments

Gross tendencies are related to the “I am the body” notion. Sub-tle tendencies are at the level of thought (and misidentificationwith various “bundles of thought” like emotions or moods). Ra-mana instructs the seeker that as long as the seeker’s identity iswith anything other than the Self, then the seeker needs to keepthe inquiry going. As long as you can inquire, then inquire. Whenyou stand as the Self, then no more inquiry is possible. The stick(of inquiry) is finally burnt in the fire.

Practice Notes

Ramana tells the seeker what to “do” with thoughts (or onethought, any thought): to stop the thought, when noticed, andstop it not by some act of control, but rather with inquiry. “Forwhom is this thought?” is the classic form of this inquiry. This inquiry turns the attention of the seeker from the thought back tothe Self.

Paragraph 27

Not to desire anything extraneous to oneself constitutes vairaga(dispassion) or nirasa (desirelessness). Not to give up one’s hold onthe Self constitutes jnana (knowledge). But really vairaga andjnana are one and the same. Just as the pearl diver, tying stones tohis waist, dives down into the depths and gets the pearl from the

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sea bed, so every aspirant pledged to vairaga can dive deep intohimself and realize the precious Atman. If the earnest seekerwould only cultivate the constant and deep contemplative “re-membrance” (smrti) of the true nature of the Self till he has real-ized it, that alone would suffice. Distracting thoughts are like theenemy in the fortress. As long as they are in possession of it, theywill certainly sally forth. But if, as and when they come out, youput them to the sword, the fortress will finally be captured.

Comments

Dispassion is the result of discrimination. Dispassion in Sanskritis Vairaga. Vairaga roughly translates as dispassion, detachment,or renunciation, in particular renunciation from the pains andpleasures in the material world (the world of illusion, Maya). Firstthe seeker sees that what is real (Atman, Brahman, Being-Con-sciousness-Bliss, the Absolute, God, Buddha-mind, by whatevername) is “within.” Once the conviction that this is so gets strongenough, the seeker starts to look “within” rather than among the“objective.” This is called an “inward-turned mind.”

Discrimination leads to dispassion. Dispassion really comes fromthe knowledge of the real source of happiness. You “give up whatyou like for what you love.” You look for happiness from itssource, rather than the indirect way, from the “objective.”

I have noticed that when a seeker is at this place of practice, thepractice starts to have a different “motion,” with the seeker being“pulled” into Being. From here, practice takes on its own motion.

This dispassion/desirelessness ends up being effortless. It natu-rally occurs once the seeker’s focus turns deeply within.

Constant “remembrance” of the true nature of the Self is anotherapproach mentioned by Ramana. Even here, the seeker is told tokeep the focus on “the first” (person, “I-I”), rather than on all of

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the objects, perceptions and sensations of the world. Ramana didnot here recommend japa (repetition of a name or mantra), buthe mentioned a more internal process, this “remembering.”

Again, distracting thoughts are talked about. As long as they“sally forth,” they will cause the seeker trouble. The seeker is ad-vised, by the enjoinder “put them (thoughts) to the sword,” tokeep cutting off the thoughts at their source (by the inquiry, “Forwhom are these thoughts?)

Practice Notes

Where does happiness come from? This is worth meditating onagain and again until you are certain. Once you see the sourceof happiness, your focus will naturally be on that. We all wantalways to be happy. Can you ever find lasting happiness inthings that come and go?

Paragraph 28

God and the Guru are not really different: they are identical. Hethat has earned the Grace of the Guru shall undoubtedly besaved and never forsaken, just as the prey that has fallen into thetiger’s jaws will never be allowed to escape. But the disciple, for hispart, should unswervingly follow the path shown by the Master.

Comments

How could God and Guru be different? Guru stands in identitywith God (or the Absolute, Brahman, Atman, etc.). In this iden-tity there is no separation between God and Guru, nor betweenGuru and seeker.

Grace comes through surrender of the ego to the teacher. Thissurrender brings the seeker to a deeper practice. Who is theteacher? God, Guru, and Self are all of the nature of the teacher.

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Surrender is really to the Self. Ramana says that those who receive Guru’s Grace will never be forsaken.

What should the seeker do then, after receiving the Grace ofGuru? Just follow the instruction of the teacher. Do not bring egoback into the picture, such as by choosing to accept this part ofthe teaching and practice, while rejecting that part. If this be done,you are responding to ego, not to the teacher. Ego as teacher willnot bring the seeker to Self-realization, since Self-realization is amatter of moving the seeker’s identity past the apparent reality ofthe ego to identity as the Self.

Practice Notes

Where is the teacher, the Guru? Is the Guru outside of us, or inour Heart? In nonduality how can the Guru (or God) be separatefrom who I am? My teacher says the Guru pushes the seekerfrom outside and pulls the seeker from inside.

Paragraph 29

Firm and disciplined inherence in the Atman, without giving theleast scope for the rise of any thought other than the deep contem-plative thought of the Self, constitutes self-surrender to theSupreme Lord. Let any amount of burden be laid on Him, Hewill bear it all. It is, in fact, the indefinable power of the Lord thatordains, sustains, and controls everything that happens. Whythen should we worry, tormented by vexatious thoughts, saying:“Shall we act this way? No, that way,” instead of meekly buthappily submitting to that Power? Knowing that the train carriesall the weight, why indeed should we, the passengers traveling init, carry our small individual articles of luggage on our laps to ourgreat discomfort, instead of putting them aside and sitting at per-fect ease?

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Comments

Ramana here talks about surrender. You should note that whenRamana discusses surrender, the surrender he describes is com-plete. The seeker surrenders ego and the sense of “mine,” and fo-cuses entirely upon the Supreme Lord, the Self. After thissurrender there is no such thing as letting ego drive the seeker’schoices. The ego is surrendered, and it no longer plays a part Ra-mana says this leads to “Firm and disciplined inherence in the Atman.”

Then the seeker is advised to treat individual cares, concerns anddoubts, like the luggage carried on the train. Why carry them toyour destination when the train carries them for you? Put themdown— the train that carries the seeker takes all the baggage, too.

This surrender is a giving up of the “mine.” Everything that hap-pens is not the working of my will, but is that of a higher power.The giving up of “mine” is equivalent to the discovery, in inquiry,that the ego never existed to begin with. Either approach demol-ishes the ego.

Practice Notes

Are you the doer of action, or are you the awareness. Are you theone who knows the action or the one who seems to act. You arethe “unknown knower of all that is known” Who is this? Inquire.

Paragraph 30

That which is Bliss is also the Self. Bliss and the Self are not dis-tinct and separate but are one and the same. And That alone isreal. In no single one of the countless objects of the mundaneworld is there anything that can be called happiness. It is throughsheer ignorance and unwisdom that we fancy that happiness isobtained from them. On the contrary, when the mind is external-

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ized, it suffers pain and anguish. The truth is that every time ourdesires get fulfilled, the mind, turning to its source, experiencesonly that happiness which is natural to the Self. Similarly in deepsleep, in spiritual trance (samadhi), when fainting, when a desiredobject is obtained, or when evil befalls an object considered unde-sirable, the mind turns inwards and enjoys that Bliss of Atman.Thus wandering astray, forsaking the Self, and returning to itagain and again is the interminable and wearisome lot of themind.

Comments

Sat-Chit-Ananda −Being-Consciousness-Bliss − is one ancientname for the Absolute (or Self, God, Brahman, Atman, Buddha-nature or whatever other name is used). The three terms are usedtogether because in a seeker’s actual experience they are all oneand the same, just different names or aspects.

Happiness, Ramana says, is not intrinsic to any object, person, place,or experience. Ramana started the “Who am I?” teaching by writ-ing about happiness, saying that everyone wants happiness, always.But where is the source of happiness? In this paragraph Ramanashows that the source of all happiness is “within.” In fact, the sourceof happiness is our very Being. One seeks happiness in external ob-jects, events, circumstances, people. Even the best of this happinesscomes and goes. The spiritual path is a search for happiness thatdoes not come and go. The only happiness that doesn’t come and gois the Bliss of Being. This can be continuous only when the identityis moved to the solid Knowledge that “I am That.”

Practice Notes

Can there be Being without Consciousness? Can there be Con-sciousness without Being? This is something that can be verifiedin meditation. Look for yourself. Bliss is seen also to be of this

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same unitary nature, so much so that when all the “noise” of themind and ego are stilled, bliss is the experience of all. When yourmind is quiet, you may feel a deep sense of peace, or bliss. Wheredoes this bliss come from?

By just noticing your existence, you may experience this “Bliss ofBeing.” This Bliss is very sweet. Nothing is needed. Just noticewhat is there.

Paragraph 31

It is pleasant under the shade of a tree, and scorching in the heatof the sun outside. A person toiling in the sun seeks the cool shadeof the tree and is happy under it. After staying there for a while,he moves out again but, unable to bear the merciless heat of thesun, he again seeks the shade. In this way he keeps on movingfrom shade to sun and sun to shade.

Comments

Ramana uses the metaphor of standing in the shade vs. standingin the sun as a way to talk about standing as the body/mind/egovs. standing as the Self, the source of all happiness.

This movement from sun to shade is like the person seeking hap-piness that is seen to be external to the seeker. Finding the happi-ness is like moving to the shade. The shade is enjoyed when adesire is met. But soon there arises yet another desire, the seekeragain moves into the hot sun. Is this going to bring any perma-nent relief from the heat?

Practice Notes

What is the source of happiness within you?

In spiritual practice you learn that there is a choice. you learn tomake choices that enhance your spiritual practice, like assocciating

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more with spiritual friends and less with casual ones. This is an important step. You should note that making these choices ofteninvolves choosing something other than what ego desires, so this isalready a step beyond ego.

Paragraph 32

It is an unwise person who acts thus, whereas the wise man neverleaves the shade: in the same way the mind of the EnlightenedSage (Jnani) never exists apart from Brahman, the Absolute. Themind of the ignorant, on the other hand, entering into the phe-nomenal world, suffers pain and anguish; and then, turning for ashort while towards Brahman, it experiences happiness. Such isthe mind of the ignorant.

Comments

The wise person, Ramana says, never leaves the shade. The Sagenever leaves the Bliss of the Self. The mind of the ignorant is at-tached to the world and the body and all that these imply. Theseattachments bring pain, suffering, fear, etc., except for those fewmoments in which a desire is met, the mind quiets, and the Blissof Being is experienced as worldly happiness. The most that theignorant can hope for is periods of inner peace mixed with periods of anguish. We love these moments of peace.

Sages talk about the continuous Bliss of Being. As long as oneholds to the mind, nothing will be continuous. There is a deepmessage in the idea of the continuous Bliss of Being. That mes-sage is to move past the ups and downs of the mind (and body,senses, and ego) into what is changeless.

Practice Notes

What is your experience right now? Is it bliss? Remember a

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moment of bliss or happiness. Where does bliss come from?What now seems to separate you from this Bliss?

Paragraph 33

This phenomenal world, however, is nothing but thought. Whenthe world recedes from one’s view — that is when one is free fromthought — the mind enjoys the Bliss of the Self. Conversely,when the world appears — that is when thought occurs — themind experiences pain and anguish.

Comments

This teaching is one that seekers sometimes have trouble with.The world is nothing but thought. Certainly if you look at thisclosely from a subjective point of view, thinking about thought, allyou know of the world is from the senses as interpreted throughthe mind and intellect. That is the easy explanation. This is some-thing that you can look at closely in your own meditation.

The Advaita Vedanta view is that only that which is constant, al-ways true, etc. is real. This means that what is real is Being-Con-sciousness-Bliss (the Self, which is always), and that the world, thebody, the senses, the life-energy, the mind, and ego, are not real,since they are always changing. Ramana equated this with amovie being played on a screen. We think we are the movie, soget excited when there is a scene of a fire. But we are the screen,not the movie, and never touched by the flames.

Another view of inquiry (and spiritual practice) is to merely lookat “What is real?” or “What is constant?”and dismiss all else.

Here Ramana goes on to identify the world with the mind. Somuch so that when the world and mind are not active, then oneenjoys the Bliss of Self. When the mind is active, one suffers.

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Practice Notes

One example that Ramana would give uses the deep sleep state.There the mind is not active and there is no world. A meditativeapproach is to look at your dreams. There is a world in thedream. Where does this dream world come from? What aboutyour dream body? Or dream sense experiences? What happenedto the reality of the dream when you wake up?

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Not from any desire, resolve, or effort on the part of the rising sun,but merely due to the presence of his rays, the lens emits heat, thelotus blossoms, water evaporates, and people attend to their vari-ous duties in life. In the proximity of the magnet the needlemoves. Similarly the soul or jiva, subjected to the threefold activityof creation, preservation, and destruction which take place merelydue to the unique Presence of the Lord, performs acts in accor-dance with its karma (fruits of past actions, in the present life),and subsides to rest after such activity. But the Lord Himself hasno resolve; no act or event touches even the fringe of His Being.This state of immaculate aloofness can be likened to that of thesun, which is untouched by the activities of life, or to that of theall-pervasive ether, which is not affected by the interaction of thecomplex qualities of the other four elements.

Comments

The jiva, the individual personality, Ramana says, appears to existonly through the Self (really it appears to exist only through theprojected superimpositions of the reality of the Self onto someimagined reality), and acts based on the laws of cause and effect.

The Self, Who We Are, however, is not touched by any so-calledevent.

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A meditation that can be used to move towards the stand as Self isthe “Witness Meditation.” In this meditation, one takes the stand aswitnessing consciousness. As witnessing consciousness one is thewitness of all (including the most subtle internal experiences andthoughts), even the witness of the universe, and touched by nothing.

Finally even the witness is not deep enough. “Who knows thiswitness?” is the question here, to take you deeper in the inquiry.

Practice Notes

Where can the dust alight? In meditation, look for the place withinyourself where this is true. Does your Consciousness have a form?What is it like when your mind is quiet? Who knows this quiet?

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All scriptures without any exception proclaim that for attainingSalvation the mind should be subdued; and once one knows thatcontrol of the mind is their final aim it is futile to make an inter-minable study of them. What is required for such control is actualenquiry into oneself by self-interrogation: “Who am I?” Howcan this enquiry in quest of the Self be made merely by means ofa study of the scriptures?

Comments

Realization does not come from any book or from any amount ofunderstanding of the mind and how the mind works. Rather itcomes from the seeker’s inquiry into the Self, and the discoverythat this Self is your own self. Realization comes from this Self-Knowledge. Self-Knowledge comes from the seeker’s own efforts,from the seeker’s spiritual experiences that lead to Self-Knowl-edge. Spiritual experience needs this Knowledge to go deep.

This experience is not in any book, nor in any thought or set of

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thoughts. This experience is real, though. It is real like your owndeep knowledge that you exist.

Practice Notes

Is the knowledge that you exist dependent on your thoughts?Your senses? Or is it something deeper? Look for yourself. Youexist, and you know that you exist. What exists? Who exists?Does existence come and go?

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One should realize the Self by the Eye of Wisdom. Does Ramaneed a mirror to recognize himself as Rama? That to which the“I” refers is within the five sheaths (physical, vital, mental, knowl-edge-experience, and bliss), whereas the scriptures are outsidethem. Therefore, it is futile to seek by means of the study of scrip-tures the Self that has to be realized by summarily rejecting eventhe five sheaths.

Comments

No amount of reading will bring Self-realization. Practice is likelooking in a mirror, only more internal, and much deeper. It is look-ing into what you think of as “yourself.” As you trace the source ofyour own sense of “I” you will find that it is something deeper thanyou previously thought. This sense of “I,” of existence, or reality, isdeeper than this body, these senses, this life force, this mind. To findit, it must be realized for oneself. Aids to this are study of scriptures,and negation (rejecting the five sheaths as one’s self), and devotionto the teacher and what he teaches.

Why is it to be found through this negation? Since the Self is al-ready (and always) present, what the seeker needs to do is to RE-MOVE THE FALSE IDEAS, and then … what is found?

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Practice Notes

Ask this of yourself:

Can you be the body? Does the body say “I” You knowthe body so cannot be the body.

Can you be the senses? You know the senses so cannot bethe senses?

Can you be the flow of breath (prana)? You know theflow of breath, so cannot be the flow of this life energy.

Can be you be a thought? You know thought so cannotbe thought.

Can you be the quiet mind? You know the quiet mind socannot be even this quiet mind.

Who knows all that is known? Who are you?

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To enquire “Who am I that is in bondage?” and to know one’sreal nature is alone Liberation. To keep the mind constantlyturned within, and to abide thus in the Self is alone Atma-vichara (Self enquiry), whereas dhyana (meditation) consists infervent contemplation of the Self as Sat-Chit-Ananda (Being-Consciousness-Bliss). Indeed, at some time, one will have to forgeteverything that has been learnt.

Comments

Liberation consists of knowledge. Ramana says, “to know one’sreal nature is alone Liberation.” This is the entire purpose of spiri-tual practice. Keeping the mind turned within, on “the first” (per-son, the “I”) is what inquiry is about. The heart of the inquiry,“Who am I?” is the “I,” itself. What is this “I?” Where does it

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come from? How does it arise? Self-inquiry is an investigation.The investigation opens the mind to new answers.

Ramana speaks of meditation as a different process. Meditation,he says is “contemplation of the Self as Sat-Chit-Ananda.” Thisseems more akin to a statement, “I am Brahman,” or “I amThat,” or such, rather than a question, “Who am I?” This affir-mation, which uses the projective power of thought, can neverhave the power of the inquiry, which opens the mind and passesbeyond any mind.

Practice Notes

Where does your sense of identity, your sense of “I” come from?

This inquiry must be thorough. Ramana says of the seeker, “atsome time, one will have to forget everything that has beenlearnt.” These are all just ideas. Are you any idea? You knowsome things are certain, beyond any doubt. You exist, and knowthis existence. You have a sense of reality. Where does the realitycome from? Is it from the world? Or is it somehow closer to yourknowing of the world? You have this same sense of reality indreams. Where does it come from when you are dreaming?

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Just as it is futile to examine the rubbish that has to be swept uponly to be thrown away, so it is futile for him who seeks to knowthe Self to set to work enumerating the tattvas (classifications ofthe elements of existence) that envelop the Self and examiningthem, instead of casting them away. He should consider the phe-nomenal world with reference to himself as merely a dream.

Comments

There is a Zen koan about this:

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One day a fifty-year-old student of enlightenment said toShinkan: "I have studied the Tendai school of thoughtsince I was a little boy, but one thing in it I cannot under-stand. Tendai claims that even the grass and trees will become enlightened. To me this seems very strange."

"Of what use is it to discuss how grass and trees becomeenlightened?" asked Shinkan. "The question is how youyourself can become so. Did you ever consider that?"

"I never thought of it in that way," marveled the old man.

"Then go home and think it over," finished Shinkan.

Do trees and grass become enlightened? Whatever the answer, itis just another thought. Will this (or any) thought bring Self-ealization?

Will understanding the world, and the place that this ego-”I” hasin it, bring you lasting peace? What should the seeker do with allthese thoughts? Cut them off, cast them away, do not be attachedto any thought as something that is your reality or identity. Lookat the world like a dream. All the world changes and is knownonly by that which does not change.

Practice Notes

What is it within you that does not change? Who are you?

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Except that the wakeful state is long and the dream state is shortthere is no difference between the two. All the activities of thedream state appear, for the time being, just as real as the activitiesof the wakeful state seem to be while awake. Only, during thedream state, the mind assumes another form or a different bodilysheath. For thoughts on the one hand, and name and form on the

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other, occur simultaneously during both the wakeful and dreamstates.

Comments

Where does the reality come from in your dream? How about thewaking state? Both have the same subject-object relationship.Both seem real; they share the sense of reality, and sense of egoidentity. This reality is your own Self; it is always real. Its reality isprojected onto the waking state and last night’s dream. Both seemreal because you are real.

Practice Notes

Your dream seems real; where does the feeling of reality comefrom in your dream? How about the waking state, where does thesense of reality come from here? Who are you?

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There are not two minds, one good and the other evil. It is only thevasanas or tendencies of the mind that are of two kinds, good andfavorable, evil and unfavorable. When the mind is associated withthe former it is called good, and when associated with the latter it iscalled evil. However evil-minded other people may appear to you,it is not proper to hate or despise them. Likes and dislikes, love andhatred, are equally to be eschewed. It is also not proper to let themind often rest on objects or affairs of mundane life. As far as pos-sible one should not interfere in the affairs of others. Everything of-fered to others is really an offering to oneself; and if only this truthwere realized, who is there that would refuse anything to others?

Comments

Here is nonduality in action: “Everything offered to others is really an offering to oneself.” There are not two minds within us,

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not two selves within us, not “good or not good.” There are nottwo selves, an “inner self,” and a “God self,” one to see and an-other to be seen; there is just the Self, nondual reality. There is no“individual” or “others;” all is just One.

To hate another person is like one hand being upset at the otherhand. What is given to another is given to the Self. It is from thisunderstanding that we should relate to others.

The Third Patriarch of Ch’an, Seng-Tsan, wrote in his classic,Faith Mind:

The Great Way is not difficultfor those who have no preferences

When love and hate are both absenteverything becomes clear and undisguised

Make the smallest distinction howeverand heaven and earth are set infinitely apart

If you wish to see the truththen hold no opinions for or against anything

To set-up what you like against whatyou dislike is the disease of the mind

When the deep meaning of things is not understoodthe mind’s essential peace is disturbed to no avail

The Way is perfect like vast spacewhere nothing is lacking and nothing is in excess

Indeed, it is due to our choosing to accept or rejectthat we do not see the true nature of things

(This continues and is a great spiritual writing. Here is

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one on-line source for it: http://truthisone.org/docs/in-sights/faith-mind-by-seng-tsan.htm )

Practice Notes

Has there ever been a moment where you had less being, ormore, less existence or more? It helps me to remember and noticethat, “Being-Consciousnness, is always full, complete, not lackingin anything.”

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If the ego rises, all else will also rise; if it subsides all else will alsosubside. The deeper the humility with which we conduct our-selves, the better it is for us. If only the mind is kept under control,what matters it where one may happen to be?

Comments

It all starts with the ego. With the ego rise the body, mind andworld. One practice that some find useful is watching the ego risewhen they awaken in the morning.

This fact gives the seeker special knowledge: since all the worldstarts with the ego, when the ego subsides, so does the world. Thisway, the seeker does not need to stop all thoughts that they mightever have, just one thought, the “I”-thought. It is from the “I”-thought that all the complex multiplicity springs. So it is simple.Self-Realization is so very close to the seeker, just one thought away.

Practice Notes

Who are you when you first wake up and the ego has not be-come active? Who are you in the gaps between ego-identifica-tions, like deep sleep, samadhi, or when unconsciousness? Theego is only there when we give it reality. From where does this reality arise? Who am I?

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Summary

To make a summary of this teaching just invites you to try to engage it with your mind and to understand it cognatively. This isnot the way to go about taking this teaching into yourself.

This is for you to disccover within yourself. So, inquire, “Who amI?” Know your Self.

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